Prostitute to the Guardian of Faith
A Journey from Fear to Worthiness
The beloved Prostitute archetype, another of the four Survivor archetypes as outlined in Caroline Myss’ book Sacred Contracts, often gets a bad rap because of her name. Who would want to associate themselves with her? In reality, the Prostitute archetype makes a beautiful journey from shadow to light to become the Guardian of Faith, a courageous journey that requires coming into a deep trust of herself.
In the shadow, the Prostitute makes decisions based on fear that stems from her feelings of unworthiness. She fears not having enough money, power, social status, emotional security, etc., and “sells out” or compromises herself in order to feel safe. Who among us hasn’t doesn’t this, in big and small ways?
The Prostitute is the person that stays in a soul-sucking job because the mortgage has to be paid. She is the person who stays in a relationship that doesn’t serve her for years because she is too afraid to speak the truth to her partner, or because she has children whose lives will be disrupted if she leaves. Looking at life from our 3D perspective, it makes perfect sense why someone would make these choices.
The Guardian of Faith has compassion for the Prostitute in the shadow. It’s hard to trust when outside circumstances appear to be untrustworthy. According to Caroline Myss, The Guardian of Faith resolves to make a different decision, pulls us out of the fear our suffering causes, and helps us make decisions based on our worthiness. With the Guardian of Faith at our back, we can confidently refuse any pay off and step into the lives we are meant to live.
We have the privilege of generating faith, trust and forgiveness from within, regardless of what our worldly circumstances present us with. Author and Spiritual Teacher Cynthia Bourgeault says that our personal efforts to bestow these qualities have the power to change our circumstances, and the atmosphere of the planet. She writes that faith is not a synonym for blind belief, it is an energy we are responsible for cultivating and transmitting. She writes that his tangible energy, something our world most desperately needs, manifests from the sacrifice of our transformation from lack to wholeness, from fear to trust, and from Prostitute to the Guardian of Faith.
